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Welcome to the Abs wiki!

This is a short reference of Abs language.

Data types

There are only 3 data types: 1. Strings. For example, "Hello world" or "Hello\r\nWorld" 2. Integer numbers, for example: 10 3. Float numbers, for example, 10.0

There are no other types and there is no object-oriented programming support.

To set a variable use set(x,10) To get value of a variable simply use x

All functions have the following format: add(argument,1,argument2) For example, add(2,3) will add 2 and 3 and returns 5.

To execute several commands in sequence simply separate the commands my space chars or new lines, for example: print("Addition of two numbers") print(add(2,3),"\r\n") print("End of test")

Comments are only possible with # char.

How to use Abs?

Abacre Script may execute file given as argument, for example:
abs.exe test1.abs

Or it may run in interactive mode. For this purpose start Abacre Script:
abs.exe
Then you will see the prompt:
abs>
It's possible to execute any commands, for example,
abs>set(x,"hello") print(x)
To exit interactive mode use exit command like this:
abs>exit

On Linux the first line of script's file may be:
#!/usr/local/bin/abs
In this way it's possible to start script files the same way as Python or Perl files - simply by running it from the shell, for example:
>test.abs
On Windows you may use MSYS2 or Cygwin  and there it's also possible to start script files using the similar way.

Custom functions

Right now Abs supports 118 built-in functions but it’s also possible to implement custom functions.

It’s possible to define custom functions and even call it with recursion. For example, fun(myadd,a,b, add(a,b) ) Then call it as a usual function: myadd(2,2)

The complete function reference

Math functions

add(number,number,…​) - add two or more numbers. mult(number,number,…​) - multiply two or more numbers. sub(number,number) - sub two numbers. div(number,number) - integer division. mod(number,number) - reminder of division. inc(variable) - increment variable by one. dec(variable) - decrement variable by one. max(number,number) - max of two numbers. min(number,number) - min of two numbers.

Functions on variables

set(name,value) - set/assign a value to variable.
get(variablename) - get value of variable.
unset(variablename) - unset a variable.
fun(funname,param1,param2,...,body) - declare a new function.
var(varname,varvalue) - declare a local variable.

Conditions

False is defined as 0. Thus anything that is not 0 is considered as True. Logical conditions like or() return 1 in case of True and 0 in case of False.

eq(string/number,string/number) - compare if two parameters are equal. and(param1, param2, …​) - logical AND on two or more parameters. or(param1, param2, …​) - logical OR on two or more parameters. not(param) noteq(param1, param2) - not equal. less(param1, param2) lesseq(param1, param2) gr(param1, param2) greq(param1, param2) if(condition,action-true,action-false) switch(value,case1,action1,case2,action2,…​,def-action)

Loops

while(condition,body)
do(body,condition)

Input/output functions

print(argument1,argument2,…​) - print the arguments to console. printf(format,argument) - print formatted argument. input(prompt) cmd(command1,command2) - execute commands in a sequence. exit(integer) - exit program with status sys(command) - execute system’s shell command. puts(string1,string2,…​) - print to internal string buffer.

Functions on strings

cat(string1,string2) - concatenate strings
append(s,s1,s2,s3...) – append to string s several strings.
len(string1) - returns length of a string.
pos - find position of given substring in a string.
copy(string,index,count) - copy part of a string.
erase(s,position,count) - delete/remove part of a string. the function does not modify s variable. it returns the result as a string where is needed substring is removed.
insert - insert substring into string.
replace() - replace all occurrences of substring in given string.
treplace(template,searchfor,replacewith) - replace all occurrences of searchfor with replacewith and return number of replacements made.
upper(string) - returns upper case string.
lower(string) - return lowercase string.
tok(string,sep) - get token.
rtok - get token in reverse sense (from the end of the string).
trim(string) - trim to from right and left.
trimleft(string) - trim space chars from left only.
trimright(string) - trim space chars from right only.
format(formatstring,argument)

Functions on lists
----------------------------------------------------------------------
list
listsize
listget
listset
listappend
listremove
listinsert
listcreate
listcopy

System functions

run(string) - run command from system shell. env(string) - get environment variable. argc() - get arguments count. argv(i) - get i’th argument. the the first argument is zero. include(filename) - include file. includeonce(filename) - include file only once. eval(string) - evaluate string.

Advanced math and trigonometry functions

pow(number,number)
sqrt(number) - returns square root of a number.
sqr(number) - returns square of a number.
sign() - get sign of a number.
abs(number) - absolute of a number.
round(number)
floor(number)
ceil(number)
trunc(number)
frac(number) - returns fractional part of a number.
sin(number)
cos(number)
tan(number)
asin(number)
acos(number)
atan(number)
sinh(number)
cosh(number)
tanh(number)
asinh(number)
acosh(number)
atanh(number)
exp(number)
log(number)
log10(number)
char()
rand - returns a random number.
pi() - returns Pi number.
e() - return E number.

Conversion functions

str(number) - convert argument to string. int(string) - convert argument to integer. float(string) - convert argument to float.

Functions on files

fileexists(filename) - check if the file is exists.
fileread(filename) - read whole file and return file's body.
filewrite(filename,filebody) - write filebody to file.
fileappend(filename,filebody) - append filebody to file.

Date/time functions

now() - returns a date as a Unix time. strdate date year month day hour minute second week dayofweek dayofyear difftime isleapyear daysinyear daysinmonth